


I Never Believed In Fairy Tales

by rainsoakedshoes



Series: Love To Hate & Hate To Love [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek Hale, Angst, Argent family dynamics, Bloodplay, Canon-Typical Violence, Captivity, Character Death, Cheating, Dehydration, Derek's Past, F/M, First Time, Hallucinations, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Mentions of the Hale fire, Past Kate Argent/Derek Hale, Physical Torture, Psychological Torture, Rough Sex, Starvation, Torture, Unhealthy Relationships, Unsafe Sex, ill add more tags as i add chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-25
Updated: 2014-09-30
Packaged: 2018-02-18 18:25:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2357798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainsoakedshoes/pseuds/rainsoakedshoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The sequel to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/2141925">Big Bad With His Teeth and Claws vs Little Red With her Bow and Arrow</a></p><p>***</p><p>“For her 18th birthday Allison is going to kill you,” Gerard explained. “Her first kill.”<br/>Derek’s stomach dropped and he couldn’t breathe properly.<br/>“No,” Derek said weakly.<br/>“Yes.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> please pay attention to the tags. 
> 
> this fic is plot heavy when compared to the previous one and isnt very happy at all

This was bad. Really, _really_ bad.

Blood pounded in Derek’s ears and the roar of engines got closer to him with each passing second.

Running for his life through the woods he had to wonder how the hell he managed to keep getting himself into these kinds of situations.

The noises of the hunters ATV’s were getting closer to his left, so he swerved and started running right.

He realised too late that’s exactly what they wanted him to do.

There was a piercing noise and flashing lights, Derek’s knees slammed onto the hard forest floor; his hands clamped over his ears, and his eyes shut tight.

Derek tried to stand but the noise kept him off balance, he was only able to stumble forward a step before he was on the ground again.

His face was contorted in pain and he struggled to open his eyes. Through fluttering eyelids he saw several figures standing in front of him; their guns pointed at him.

When the noise stopped the silence hit Derek like a train. He was shaking, chest heaving.

He looked up and locked eyes with Allison. Her crossbow was aimed at his head.

Derek was reminded of the first time they had met all those months ago. Except this time she wasn’t alone, three men and a woman flanked her.

_Kate._

Kate was there, her mouth twisted up into a smile, canines bared; she looked more like a wolf than Derek ever had.

Derek stayed on his knees.

The older woman stepped forward and whispered in her nieces’ ear. Derek’s ears were still ringing and he missed the quiet exchange.

Allison looked at Derek, her heart feeling too big for her chest.

The older man to Allison’s right said something but Derek didn’t hear it, his attention was solely on Allison.

The teenage girl nodded once. Her lips curved up into a smile that matched her aunt’s.

Allison’s arrow buried itself in Derek’s shoulder with a sickening thud.

Derek hadn’t expected anything else.

***

When Derek woke up he was secured to a metal chain link fence that was stretched across the length of the room.

Derek tested the restraints but they had no give. Wires were inserted into his side, sending pulses of electricity through his body; not enough to kill him but enough to keep him weak.

He figured he must be in a basement somewhere, all the lights were artificial and there was no indication of how much time had passed.

He could have waited ten minutes. He could have waited an hour.

All the while all the terrible things the hunters could do to him ran through his mind.

Derek had no idea why he was still alive.

Although he suspected Kate had something to do with it.

Derek was counting the exposed bricks when the door finally opened.

He growled low in his throat. It was a pathetic attempt at intimidation, seeing as how he was completely at the mercy of the hunters, but he had to do _something._

Allison appeared in the doorway, dressed in all black, her expression stony.

“Allison.” Derek’s voice cracked, his lips and throat completely dry from lack of water.

He didn’t know what he was trying to accomplish by talking to her. It wasn’t as though they had a tender relationship, even if Allison no longer left straight after sex anymore, even if the kisses they shared were becoming less rough, Allison still grinned when she used her blade on him and Derek still loved bruising her pale skin. They had always been well aware of their differences; that Allison had been brought up to kill his kind.

Maybe Allison was going to be the one to end him after all.

Allison walked over to him, her boots clicking on the basement floor.

Her breath was warm against his ear and Derek squeezed his eyes shut.

“They’re recording everything,” Allison whispered.

Derek nodded. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know why she was telling him this.

The Allison’s lips moved against his ear again and she said the last thing he was expecting.

_“I’m sorry.”_

His eyes flew open and Allison stepped back, her expression as hard and cold as the concrete under Derek’s bare feet.

Allison walked over to the controls for the wires connected to his body, her hand hovered above a dial.

“Let’s have some fun,” she said, her voice louder now.

She grinned at him but it didn’t reach her eyes. She wasn’t having fun.

***

Allison sat with her head bowed, picking at the food on her plate with her fork. The adults talked around her.

Her grandfather, Gerard, sat at the head of the table. Chris and Kate sat either side of him. Allison sat next to her aunt while her mother sat next to Chris. Two more hunters, distant cousins, both twenty something year old men, filled the next two chairs. The foot of the table remained empty.

The adults were discussing the lack of an Argent Matriarch.

Victoria was currently filling the role but, despite how much her strength was revered, Gerard made it abundantly clear that the leader of their family should have Argent blood.

Kate liked power and control but she hand no interest in making tactical decisions or having responsibility; she just wanted to kill things. She had no problem telling her father as much, no matter how disapproving he was.

_“She turns 18 in three weeks.”_

He mothers voice washed over Allison.

_“She still hasn’t killed though.”_

The voice of her cousin, Mason, drew Allison back into the conversation.

“Because you all haven’t let me,” Allison stabbed a piece of broccoli to make her point.

Kate chuckled. “I don’t think we have to worry about Allison’s will to kill,” the older woman put her arm around her nieces’ shoulder. “She does take after me.”

Chris and Victoria shared a look, Chris’ grip on his fork tightened.

“I stand by the decision to wait until she’s 18 to make her do that,” Chris said.

“But we have her birthday present all wrapped up and waiting in the basement. Why wait another few weeks?” Kate squeezed Allison’s shoulder.

Allison’s stomach lurched and bile rose in her throat.

“No,” she said quickly.

All sets of eyes were on her.

“I think we should wait for my birthday,” she told them. “That’s what we’ve planned. It’s not like…my present is going anywhere.”

She blinked back tears and smiled.

They expected her to kill Derek and be happy about it.

She wasn’t going to do either.

***

Kate’s laughter echoed in the small basement room.

The sound made Derek’s skin crawl.

She moved the dial again and watched as Derek’s body convulsed.

Allison pretended to laugh along.

“You know,” Kate said, watching the beads of sweat run down Derek’s chest. “Electricity is fun, but have you ever cut a werewolf?”

Allison looked at the ground and shook her head.

“Usually they heal almost instantly, but with him hooked up to the electricity it’ll take him longer for him to heal,” Kate explained walking over to stand in front of Derek. “Where’s that switchblade you’re so fond of?”

“I don’t know,” Allison shook her head. “I think I lost it.”

Allison new exactly where the blade was. It was under her bed, wrapped in one of Derek’s t-shirts that she had borrowed after he had torn her shirt to shreds one night.

There was no way in hell she was using that blade on Derek now, not in this situation, not with Kate right there.

“Too bad,” Kate shrugged. She pulled her own knife from her pocket instead.

Kate gestured for Allison to come join her in front of Derek. Allison did so, her eyes cast down, unable to look Derek in the face.

Derek didn’t let any emotion show on his face when Kate made a long cut down the centre of his chest. It wasn’t very deep but Kate was right, it did take a lot longer to heal.

Kate pressed the knife into Allison’s hand and the younger woman took a deep breath.

The last time Allison had cut Derek was a week before they had captured him in the woods. She had kissed him while her sharp blade made a cut across the top of his thigh. She had licked the blood that had run down the inside of his thigh, smiling against his skin, before she had taken him into her mouth. Allison’s stomach was twisted in knots as she remembered the soft murmurs of encouragement he had given her, how he had kissed the taste of himself off her lips afterwards.

Allison nicked Derek with the tip of Kate’s blade.

“Come on!” Kate teased, completely oblivious to Allison’s internal turmoil. “You can do better than that!”

Kate turned away to retrieve another knife and Allison finally looked up at Derek. He was staring down at her, eyebrows knitted together in anger and confusion.

 _“I’m sorry.”_ She mouthed to him.

Derek didn’t move. He didn’t know why they were keeping him down here, he didn’t know why Allison was suddenly so apologetic about hurting him. He didn’t want to entertain the idea that Allison actually cared about him, even if that’s the impression she was giving him.

 _If she really cared she could talk her family into letting me go_ he thought bitterly.

Kate made a second cut, slicing Derek from his belly button down to the waistband of his jeans.

“Your turn Ally,” Kate flashed her a toothy grin. “Make him bleed.”

Allison ran her fingertips across Derek’s lower abdomen, usually the feel of his warm blood on her hands excited her, but now it just made her feel ill. Allison made her next cut across Derek’s chest, just above his nipple. This cut was shorter than Kate’s but it was deeper; blood poured out of the wound and ran down Derek’s chest.

Allison hoped that if she did what her aunt asked they would be done sooner, and Allison could get back to figuring out how the hell she was going to save Derek.

***

Two young men gave Derek food and water. They didn’t feed him enough to really satisfy the rumbling in his stomach but they gave him enough so he wouldn’t pass out on them.

“I hope you don’t need to use the bathroom too badly,” one of the men, a blonde, told him. “Kate and Allison aren’t the only ones who wanted to see you today.”

Derek growled deep in his throat but the two men simply laughed at him. Derek thought about pissing himself just to prove a point.

 _They’ve only had me a handful of days and I’m already going out of my goddamn mind_ Derek thought.

An older man, white haired and grandfatherly looking, entered the room. Without another word the two younger men left him and Derek alone.

Derek stared the old man down, nostrils flaring. The man didn’t seem bothered by Derek’s display of aggression; he walked over to the controls and skimmed his hands over the dials.

“Hello Derek,” he greeted. “I’m Gerard Argent, and I guess you’ve been wondering what our plans for you are.”

“It’s crossed my mind,” Derek spat out. He was annoyed at himself for allowing this man, Gerard, to get under his skin so easily.

Gerard gave no indication that he’d heard Derek speak and kept talking. “You’re probably wondering why we haven’t killed you yet, do you want to know why?”

“I have a feeling you’re going to tell me anyway,” Derek gritted his teeth. He shouldn’t be teasing the person with the ability to shock him with 10,000 volts.

“You’re going to be my granddaughter’s birthday present,” Gerard told him.

“What?” Derek asked before he could stop himself.

“For her 18th birthday Allison is going to kill you,” Gerard explained. “Her first kill.”

Derek’s stomach dropped and he couldn’t breathe properly.

“No,” Derek said weakly.

“Yes.”

Gerard turned to Derek, a grin stretched across his face. He twisted the dial to the highest voltage.

Derek couldn’t hold back the scream that was ripped from his throat.

***

After discovering that Derek knew about their plans Allison decided that no one else was going to touch him.

“He knows he’s going to die, but he doesn’t know when,” she told her family. “So we’ll leave him to sweat for a few weeks. I think will be more fun that way.” She hated how much she sounded like Kate, even though a few months ago it had been her wish to be more like her aunt.  

She still needed time to figure out how the hell she was going to get Derek free of his restraints (her grandfather held the only keys) and out of the house without any of the other hunters noticing. Not to mention what she was going to do with Derek _after_ she managed to free him. She was planning to go against everything her family had ever taught her, she was planning to save the life of a werewolf, there was no way any of them were going to forgive her for that.

Allison thought about just doing what they wanted her to do. She thought about killing Derek. She could do it quickly, he would barely feel a thing.

When she thought about shooting him in the head or slitting his throat she could feel the bile rising in her throat.

All she could think about was the way his arms wrapped around her, as ridiculous as it was she felt _safe_ with him. She knew Derek didn’t care about her, she knew it was sex and nothing more, refused to entertain the thought that there could be more. However she still couldn’t kill him, and she wouldn’t let anyone else hurt him while he was under their roof.

She had played her part well so far, she had participated in the torture, she had let them prepare her for killing him, she had pretended to be excited about it; but now she was putting her foot down.

None of the hunters argued (even if Gerard and Kate seemed equally annoyed that Allison wasn’t going to physically torture him), after all she was trained to be a leader, and Derek was her birthday gift.

So they left him alone for two days; only coming in to give him food and water, never speaking to him.

For 48 hours Derek was left with nothing but his own thoughts.

In his position he was unable to sleep properly, occasionally he managed to doze off but it never lasted long; he was too on edge to sleep, the electricity kept pumping though him, his head pounded, and every time he closed his eyes he saw Allison’s face.

He went over every moment of their interactions, from Allison cornering him in the woods that first night, to their night together a week before his capture; when Allison had fallen asleep in his arms.

Derek wondered if the Argents knew about him and Allison; if that was why they were so intent on him being Allison’s first kill.

A small part of him held hope that Allison wouldn’t be able to do it, that she wouldn’t kill him.

Her tear filled eyes and whispered _“I’m sorry”_ haunted him.

He wouldn’t allow himself to believe that Allison actually cared about him though. He knew what she was. She was a hunter, an Argent, killing werewolves was in her blood. She had been raised to wield weapons and trained to hunt and kill his kind; he was honestly surprised that she hadn’t killed before.

He knew of course, but hearing someone else confirm it as the truth still stunned him.

Allison had told him, on either their fifth or sixth time together, that she’d never actually killed a werewolf before. She had confessed that she had been involved in torture and had helped capture many, but she had never dealt the killing blow.

Her voice had been soft when she’d told him about it.

_“I’ve been trained for it but I won’t know until I have to do it.”_

That small admission, whispered in the dark of his hotel room, was what fuelled the small hope he had of getting out of the Argent’s alive.

However as time dragged on Derek’s hope started to fade.

On the third day Kate came down to the basement alone.

“Hey, handsome,” she crooned from the doorway.

Derek looked up at her and glared; they may have weakened him but they hadn’t taken all of the fight out of him yet.

“Not feeling very talkative?” Kate teased walking up to him. “Oh well,” she shrugged her shoulders and trailed her hands down his chest.

Derek growled and jerked his body as much as his restraints would allow. Kate just laughed, slipping her fingers through the belt loops in Derek’s jeans.

“You know I’m glad I had the idea to give you to Allison,” she said.

Derek narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything, he wasn’t going to fall into Kate’s trap and let her get to him.

“I mean I would have loved to finish the job myself,” Kate’s face was only inches from Derek’s. “Since I did kill the rest of your family.”

Derek wasn’t going to let her get to him.

He wasn’t.

He wasn’t.

He wasn’t.

“But I guess I couldn’t have accomplished that without you,” Kate whispered against his lips.

Derek roared. He jerked forward again, fangs catching against Kate’s mouth.

Blood dripped down Kate’s chin while she grinned at him. She reminded him of the way Allison had looked after their first kiss.

Derek’s chest heaved, he felt like he was going to be sick.

“I know Allison said no one was to touch you,” Kate said, wiping the blood from her chin. “But what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

Kate’s hands were on the button of his jeans. Derek roared, louder this time, he knew the only attention he would attract would be other hunters but they had to be better than Kate.

“Oh, didn’t they tell you?” Kate chuckled, shaking her head. “The whole basement is soundproof, can’t hear a thing when that door is shut.”

She tugged his zipper down.

Derek closed his eyes, defeated.


	2. Chapter 2

Derek didn’t open his eyes when the door opened. After Kate had left him (a day ago? Two days? He couldn’t be sure) he didn’t have the energy to fight anymore.

Then there was a hand on either side of his face, lifting his head up, and Derek finally opened his eyes.

It was Allison.

Maybe he was dreaming again.

But then Allison started talking to him and he snapped completely back into reality.

“…has the keys to the restraints but I’m working on a way to get you out of here,” Allison told him. “This is the first time I’ve been alone in the house someone else is always around so I haven’t had the chance to come see you yet. I’m not going to kill you, I’m not, I promise.”

Allison was speaking rapidly and her words made Derek’s head spin.

“What?” he croaked, unaware until then how parched he was. “Why?”

Allison stopped, she pursed her lips together and blinked back her tears. She let go of his face and walked over to the control panel.

Derek’s heart sank.

The electrical current that had been running into his body almost constantly stopped; for the first time Derek’s entire body could relax.

Allison walked back over to Derek and took his head in her hands again.

“I couldn’t light the match,” she said.

“Prove it,” Derek’s voice was harsher than he’d intended.

Allison nodded. “I will.”

She reached down to pick up the water bottle she had brought with her; she let Derek drink, making sure he took small sips instead of guzzling the whole thing down at once.

“It wasn’t my idea to choose you,” she told him. “I didn’t know we were after you in the woods until we’d trapped you, and I didn’t know they had decided you were going to be _my 18 th birthday present_.” The venom in her words surprised Derek.

“I know,” Derek was sounding more like himself. “Kate told me it was her idea.”

Allison narrowed her eyes. “Kate talked to you? When?”

“Yesterday? The day before? It’s hard to keep track of time down here,” he admitted.

“What happened between you two?” Allison asked. “Back when you first met?”

Derek took a deep breath. “She used to me to find out my families weaknesses, she used me to kill all of them.”

“How? _How_ did she use you?”

“Get me out of here alive and I’ll tell you the whole story,” Derek bargained.

Allison let out a noise of frustration. “You’re not really in a position to make ultimatums!” she snapped. “You’re lucky you’re still alive at all!”

“Sometimes you sound a lot like her,” Derek’s spat back.

He was angry and exhausted, mentally and physically.

He hated Allison. He hated Kate. He hated the whole Argent family. He hated himself.

“I’m going to get you out of here, you’re going to tell me the truth about Kate, and then we’re never going to see each other again.” Allison clenched her jaw.

“Fine by me.” Derek didn’t look away from her.

***

Allison hadn’t meant to start dating Scott McCall. She was supposed to befriend him and keep an eye on him; he was a freshly turned werewolf and he could become dangerous. However after a while his puppy dog eyes and sweet smiles had worn her down.

“Fine,” she had sighed. “One date.”

In the beginning it was easy. They held hands and shared chaste kisses. Allison told him that she wanted to wait, that she wasn’t ready for sex, and Scott had nodded, he had told her to take as much time as she wanted.

He was nauseatingly sweet sometimes.

In the beginning she’d had Derek. She would spend the week with Scott then show up at Derek’s door on a Friday or Saturday night, switchblade in hand.

Except now she didn’t have Derek anymore.

Well, she _did_ , but there was a difference between having him and him being tied up in her parents’ basement.

They’d had Derek for a week and a half, Allison was running out of time to get him out and the stress was eating away at her. She needed to stop thinking about it for a while. She needed a distraction.

So she found herself under Scott, letting him finally touch her, and he was driving her insane.

In the worst possible way.

Every touch was tentative, each kiss he pressed to her lips was gentle and sweet, and he constantly stopped to make sure that she was okay.

She knew it was Scott’s first time but she wished that he would just hurry up and _fuck her already._

But he didn’t.

Just like everything else his thrusts were as gentle as he could manage.

Allison tried her best to get him to lose some of his control; she scratched her nails up his back, she wrapped her slim legs around his waist and begged for more, but what he gave her wasn’t enough. Allison pushed him but he didn’t pull.

It was hard to believe that Scott and Derek had the same kind of monster lurking just below their skin.

Scott didn’t last very long and Allison didn’t come, but she kissed him anyway and told him it was good. She still had her role to play.

She hadn’t meant it when she’d told Derek she never wanted to see him again, they had been words said in anger, and in fear. She was scared that she was developing real feelings for the werewolf. However, lying in the dark listening to Scott’s steady breathing, Allison managed to convince herself that her reasons for wanting to keep Derek alive were purely selfish; that she wanted to use him for her own pleasure and nothing more.

***

Derek didn’t know how much time had passed since Allison had come to see him.

The only people he saw were the two young men who came to give him water. Although Derek was pretty sure they were visiting him sporadically to deliberately keep him confused; sometimes it felt like they visited twice in an hour and other times it felt like a full day had passed before he saw them again, but there was no way to tell.

His wrists were constantly rubbed raw from pulling at the restraints, even if the electricity hadn’t been running into his body he was being starved and suffering from sleep deprivation, there was no way his body could heal properly.

His mind started to play tricks on him. He was certain he could hear Kate’s voice, and whenever the door opened, for a split second, he thought she was standing there, smiling at him.

He could have been dreaming, or he could have been hallucinating, the lines between reality and fantasy were blurred at best after two weeks of being strung up in the Argent’s basement.

It was getting harder and harder for Derek keep a grip on himself. He found himself rapidly switching emotions, from anger and fear to desperation and sadness then back again. He caught himself screaming, fangs and claws extended without even realising that he had shifted at all. He cried and he swore, he cursed himself and the Argent’s, he struggled against his restraints until he was almost positive he had broken one of his wrists.

He chanted the words _Alpha, Beta, Omega_ over and over again to himself, even though his throat was raw and his mouth dry, to try and keep himself grounded.

***

“Have you decided how you’re going to kill him?” Kate asked Allison casually over dinner.

Allison’s stomach dropped and the food in her mouth suddenly tasted like ash, she forced herself to swallow.

“That’s a good question,” Gerard nodded from his place at the head of the table. “You don’t have much time left.”

They were talking about it as though they were asking about a school project she had. What little appetite Allison had when they’d sat down to eat had totally disappeared.

Allison shrugged. “My compound bow I guess.” She had been too busy trying to think of a way to get Derek out safely that she hadn’t even thought that her family might be organising exactly how the kill will go down.

“You sure you don’t want to try those ring daggers you’ve been playing with?” Kate asked. “I’m sure they’d be fun, drag it out longer.”

“We’ve had him for two weeks already, I think we’ve dragged it out long enough,” Allison’s voice was low and hard.

Kate rolled her eyes. “At least you’re not choosing the easy way out and shooting him in the head.”

Chris let out a frustrated sigh and levelled his eyes at his sister across the table. “It’s Allison’s choice. If she wants to use a gun then she can use a gun, if she wants to use her arrows then that’s what she’ll use.” Chris set his knife and fork down and Victoria nodded in agreement with her husband.

“Speaking of my choice,” Allison started. “I’ve been keeping an eye on him through the security system and it looks like the lack of food and water is really starting to get to him, maybe we could-”

“No.” Gerard cut her off. “We need to keep him as weak as possible.”

Allison threw down her fork. “Why?!” She demanded. “Why does he need to be weak? Don’t you think I’ll be able to kill him unless he’s basically passed out?” She genuinely wanted to make Derek’s situation better until she could get him out, but she was also angry that her family apparently doubted her.

“You are very skilled,” Gerard chose his words carefully. “But this is your first kill, and we need to make sure that if you’re unable to go through with it there’s no way he can escape. That is why we need him weak.”

“First kills can be difficult, even if you’ve been prepared for it,” Chris added.

Kate snorted but she didn’t say anything.

“Okay.” Allison picked up her fork. “Okay.”

Allison wasn’t sure who she was madder at. Her family for not thinking she was strong enough to kill Derek, or herself because they were right.

***

Derek looked up when the door opened. It was too soon for the young men to be back, there was no way there had been more than half an hour since they had fed him, the food helped him stay surer of the passage of time.

Allison walked towards him and Derek dropped his head again.

He’d had this dream/hallucination before.

She turned the electricity off and moved over to Derek to remove the wires from his side. Derek made a noise in pain when she pulled the wires free and Allison made what she hoped was a soothing noise in response.

“I know, I’m sorry,” she told him.

The skin on his side was burned black and crusted with blood, it made Allison sick to look at.

“This is real,” Derek murmured, his voice hoarse.

Her hands were on him, he could smell her, she was _actually_ with him.

“Yeah,” Allison nodded. “This is real. I’m getting you out.”

“How?”

“Everyone should be gone for a few hours, I cut class to come home early, I’ll get you out of here and to my car,” Allison took a breath. “I don’t know where we’ll go but we’ll think of something once we’re out.”

Derek nodded. “Just fucking get me out of here.”

Allison hadn’t been able to get the keys to Derek’s restraints, but she had been able to liberate a pair of wire cutters from her dad’s tool collection; they were strong enough to cut the wire that Derek was secured to.

It took her a few minutes but finally, after two and a half long weeks, Derek’s arms and legs were free again.

He stumbled forward, unused to supporting his full body weight and weak from lack of food and water, but Allison caught him and righted him.

Derek’s skin was hot under her palms and Allison looked at him properly for the first time. His face was pale except for the large dark circles under his eyes, they looked like bruises. Derek’s face was thinner than normal, his cheek bones sharper than ever. His normally well maintained scruff had been left to grow out. His lips were cracked and bloodied.

Allison put pressed her hand gently to the side of his face. “Let’s go,” she whispered.

Derek thought that he knew how sore he was while he was still tied up, but once he started moving it felt like every part of him was on fire. Once blood started moving through him properly, and now that the electricity was no longer pumping into him, he could feel his body starting to heal. Allison had pressed a water bottle into his hand and the cool water helped. However by the time they made it to the top of the stairs, and were free from the basement, his atrophied muscles were screaming in pain.

Allison tried not to hurry Derek but her heart was pounding from anxiety. She was terrified what would happen if her grandfather, or worse, _Kate_ , came home and found her freeing Derek.

They were slowly making their way down the hallway when the water bottle slipped from Derek’s hand. The two of the stopped and Allison bent down quickly to pick up the bottle, she used her sleeve to mop up the spilt water; she wanted to leave no sign that she had been home, she didn’t want to give them reason to check the basement sooner than planned.

However before Allison could stand back up the front door started to open.

Allison froze, her mouth open in horror. Derek was leaning against the wall but he tensed, he was weak but he was out of the basement and the will to fight was back.

Chris Argent’s hand went straight for the gun in his holster when he saw his daughter on her knees and the werewolf staring him down, teeth bared. 

“Dad,” Allison shook her head, she didn’t know what to say. The teenager stood slowly and placed herself between Derek and her father. “Please, dad.” She wasn’t even sure what she was pleading for.

The hunter looked carefully at Allison, then to the werewolf behind her. Derek’s teeth were bared but he looked as though he would fall down if he tried to take more than five steps on his own. Chris had seen Derek on the security system but seeing him in person was something else; the only werewolves Chris had seen looking as bad as Derek were ones suffering from wolfsbane poisoning. He moved his hand away from his gun.

“I got a call from the school that you weren’t in class,” he said. Allison opened her mouth but Chris held up a hand for her to be silent. “I got a call from the school,” he repeated. “I arrive ten minutes from now. I check the house but you and your car aren’t here so I decide you must be somewhere with friends. I _don’t_ check the basement. No one checks the basement until Mason and Luke are supposed to check on Derek again. You call your mother around the end of school and tell her you’re at Lydia’s or with another friend, you tell her that you don’t want to come home tonight. You switch off your phone after that. You _do not_ come home.”

Allison stared at her father, eyes wide. “Okay,” she said softly.

“At least two towns over. Pay everything in cash. Text me around midnight then switch your phone off again.” Chris walked over to them and put his hand on Allison’s shoulder. “Be careful.”

Allison nodded wildly and gave her father a quick hug. She turned to Derek who was still staring warily at the older hunter.

Chris leaned into Derek’s personal space. “Hurt her and what Kate did to you did will seem like a picnic compared to what I’ll do.”

“I won’t,” Derek croaked. Admittedly he would have done or said almost anything to get out of the Argent’s house alive, but he truly had no plans to hurt Allison.

At the same time Allison said “I can take care of myself. He won’t hurt me.”  

Chris nodded and stepped back to let them pass. He waited until the sound of Allison’s car had faded then went to make sure the basement door was locked properly.

He trusted his daughters’ judgement, after all they had been training her for her entire life to be a good leader.


	3. Chapter 3

Allison drove north, completely on auto pilot, she was in shock that her father had allowed them to leave like that, and that he was going to help cover for her.

She shot of a text message to Lydia, begging her to tell her parents they were together if they called.

Lydia’s reply came less than five minutes later.

**_You with scott?_ **

Allison typed as quickly as she could.

**_Not scott. Will try to explain when I see you, please do this for me?_ **

Lydia’s next message made Allison sigh in relief.

**_Ok. But you owe me. And I want the juicy details when we talk next._ **

Allison didn’t reply, instead she dialled her mother’s number and waited.

Victoria answered on the fourth ring.

“Allison,” he mother greeted. “Shouldn’t you be in class?”

“Hi mom,” Allison glanced over at Derek but he was staring out the window. “Listen, I’m going to stay at Lydia’s tonight, this whole thing with Derek is stressing me out and I need some time out of the house.”

Victoria made a thoughtful noise. “What so we always say about approaching situations like this?”

“Clinically and unemotionally,” Allison recited. “I know, mom, I know,” she resisted the urge to sigh. “I just need some time to gather my thoughts, and I’ve been rethinking my weapon of choice.”

“What do you want to use?”

“I want to use my knife on him,” Allison looked at Derek again, he was still facing away from her but a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. The reference to the relationship they had actually put them both at ease.

“Has Kate been talking to you about this again?”

“No. This was my idea,” Allison took a deep breath. “So I’m not going to be home tonight, okay?”

“Okay,” Victoria conceded. “Have fun with Lydia and remember, you’re a strong young woman, you can do this.”

“I know mom, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Allison switched off her phone and slipped it into the centre console.

They stopped once while still in Beacon Hills, so Allison could withdraw as much cash as she could from an ATM.

Heading out of town Allison tightened her grip on the steering wheel and focused on the road signs, one sign listed the next four towns and how far away they were. The towns were close together and Allison did the calculations in her head and realised they should be able to reach the fourth one well before dark. Her dad had said at least two towns over, four sounded even better.

In the passenger seat Derek was shivering, the initial adrenaline from the escape had worn off and the full extent of his exhaustion was hitting him. Allison reached into the backseat and pulled out a sweatshirt, she handed it to Derek then turned up the heating.

“This is mine,” Derek said turning the sweatshirt over in his hands. “How did you..?”

“I went to your loft,” Allison admitted. “You might want to think about investing in a better security system when you get back.”

“Thanks,” Derek mumbled, pulling the sweatshirt on.

They drove in silence for a while. Derek dozed but after the last two weeks he was unable to sleep properly, he kept jerking awake thinking that he was back in the basement and the escape had been a dream.

After the third time he woke up with a start Allison reached over to hold his hand, to give him something to anchor himself to the present.

In the second town they came to Allison went through the drive through and got Derek some McDonalds.

“I know it’s not the best food,” she told him. “But you should probably eat something and we shouldn’t stop moving just yet.”

Derek ate slowly, careful not to go too fast and make himself sick. He hated fast food normally, but after getting nothing but meagre scraps from the Argents it tasted like a gourmet meal.

Allison focused on the road. She knew her family would have noticed Derek missing by now, and she didn’t want to think about how angry Gerard and Kate would be.

Derek leaned his head against the window, despite the vibrations, and watched the side of the road pass by. Every now and again Derek would squeeze Allison’s hand to make sure it was all real; she squeezed back every time. 

***

The motel Allison chose looked even worse than the one Derek had been staying at in when he had first arrived in Beacon Hills before he had organised to live in the loft, but they accepted cash and the bored looking woman behind the front desk didn’t bother checking if Allison was over 18.

Derek sat down on the edge of the bed once they were in the room. He was feeling better already but it would still be a while before he was completely healed physically.

Allison set the bags from the car down on the bed beside Derek then fidgeted with her phone that was still switched off. Now that they had finally stopped moving she didn’t know what to do or say.

“Do you have anything to get these off?” Derek asked, pulling up the sleeves of his sweatshirt to show off the silver cuffs that were still around his wrists.

“Of course,” Allison nodded, rummaging around in her handbag. “I can pick the locks, it will just take me a little bit. I didn’t have time to do that when I was getting you out.”

Allison pushed the bags out of the way and sat on the bed next to Derek. She took his wrist in her hands, carefully turning it over so she could get to the lock. Derek’s wrists had healed for the most part, but his skin and the cuffs were still stained with dried blood.

“Did they teach you to pick locks before or after you mastered deadly weapons?” Derek questioned when Allison got the first cuff off of him.

“I was a nationally ranked archer by age 12,” Allison told him. “So after.”

Once Allison knew how to get the locks undone it didn’t take her very long to get the cuff off of Derek’s other wrist. She slipped down onto the floor to remove the ones around Derek’s ankles, which had been rubbed raw like his wrists.

After a few minutes of silence Derek asked another question.

“When did you find about the supernatural, werewolves and all of that?”

“When I was 15,” Allison shifted so she could remove the last cuff. “But I had a feeling that was the truth before then. I mean, you can only overhear so many half-finished sentences and hushed conversations before the pieces start to click together.”

“So they’ve been telling you all about werewolves for a while now,” Derek said, “and you still let the big bad wolf go.”

“I never believed in fairy tales,” Allison shrugged. “There, you’re all free,” she pulled the last cuff away from him and stood back up.

Derek rubbed his right wrist, the one he’d thought that he had broken. It was still sore but not completely broken, maybe fractured.

“Thanks,” he said and Allison gave him a small smile in return. “Can I take a shower?” Derek looked to the door that lead to the bathroom.

“Sure!” Allison said grabbing one of the bags again. “Of course, there’s clean clothes in this bag, you don’t have to ask permission, you can do whatever...” Allison trailed off and straightened up. “I’m sorry. I guess I’ve just kidnapped you all over again. You can do whatever you want. If you want to go back to Beacon Hills I’ll take you. I didn’t even give you the choice.”

“It’s okay,” Derek took the bag from Allison. “I’d rather be as far away from Beacon Hills and your family as possible right now.”

Allison smiled and nodded. “Take a shower, then you should probably try and sleep, I can’t even imagine how tired you are. I’ll go out later to get some food.”

Derek spent over an hour in the shower. The water pressure wasn’t very good but the water was hot and being able to clean himself was bliss. Allison had even grabbed his shower gel when she had broken into his loft.  

“How are you feeling?” Allison asked when he emerged from the bathroom.

“Better,” he admitted.

He was wearing a pair of black sweatpants and a light grey t-shirt and his hair was still slightly damp. The black marks under his eyes still contrasted against his pale skin, but he was clean and he was moving more easily than he had been earlier.

“What day is it?” Derek lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. “How long was I in the basement?”

“It’s Friday,” Allison told him. “And we had you for almost three weeks.”

Questions swirled around in Derek’s mind, he had so many things he wanted to ask Allison. However now that he was safe his body was giving in to exhaustion.

“Sleep,” Allison said, patting Derek on the arm.

Derek nodded and let sleep pull him under.

He managed to sleep for two hours before he woke up sweating; terrified that he was still trapped in the basement. It took him a few minutes to calm down and remember where he was, to remember that he was safe.

The motel room was dark and as Derek looked around he realised Allison wasn’t there. He sat up and noticed a piece of paper on the pillow next to him.

_I went to get some food, didn’t want to wake you. I should be back by 9:30._

_-Allison_

Derek looked at the clock on the bedside table, it told him it was 9:06. He laid back down but didn’t shut his eyes. He put his hand to his side and was pleased to find that the wound caused by the wires and electricity entering his body had completely healed.

It was 9:18 when Allison unlocked the door and walked in. Derek had tensed up, ready to fight, when he’d heard someone coming but relaxed when he saw it was Allison.

“I brought pizza,” she told him, flicking on the lights, as though the boxes she was carrying didn’t make that obvious. “Not much was open.”

The two of them sat at the small table, chairs creaking under their weight. The smell of the pizza made Derek’s stomach growl loudly.

They ate in silence; the werewolf managed to put away three quarters of a pizza before he shoved the box away, the sudden influx of food making him feel queasy.

“You should get some more sleep,” Allison told Derek after he yawed around the water bottle he was taking a drink from.

Derek nodded. Sleep sounded amazing.

Both he and Allison moved over to the bed, however while Derek got under the covers Allison settled herself on the edge.

“Are you going to sleep?” Derek asked. Allison was looking pale and he could smell the stress rolling off her.

Allison shook her head. “I’m going to stay up for a little while longer and message my dad at midnight like he told me to.”

Derek sat up again properly and shuffled down to the end of the bed, he cupped the side of Allison’s face, turning her head so she was facing him. He pressed a gentle, closed mouth kiss to Allison’s lips.

It was the most tender moment they had shared yet.

“Thank you,” he said when they broke the kiss.

“Sleep,” Allison told him with a small smile.

It didn’t take long for Derek to fall back asleep, he could feel his body healing now that he had enough water and food but he knew it would be a couple of days at least before he was back to feeling normal. Allison listened to Derek’s steady breathing and watched the clock counting down to midnight.

At exactly 00:00 Allison switched her phone back on. She was greeted with missed calls from her grandfather, her mother, Kate, and both Mason and Luke, she also had over 20 text messages; Allison ignored them. 

**_Hey dad, still with Lydia. I’m fine, totally safe._ **

Allison decided it was best to stick with the lie that she was with Lydia in case somebody else picked up her fathers’ phone.

Two minutes later Allison’s phone vibrated in her hand, her father’s number on the screen.

“Dad,” Allison greeted.

“Allison,” came her father’s reply.

She was relieved that it was actually her dad calling and not someone else with his phone.

“Are you okay?” Chris asked.

“I told you dad, I’m fine,” Allison chewed her bottom lip. “How are things there?”

Chris sighed. “Bad,” he admitted. “Gerard is furious and Kate, well, saying Kate is livid is an understatement.”

“Do they know I did it?” Allison asked, looking at Derek’s sleeping form.

“I don’t think so,” Chris lowered his voice. “Honestly they’re probably all thinking it but no one has dared voice the possibility yet.”

“I’m sorry,” Allison didn’t know what else to say.

“Just tell me why,” Chris’ voice was low and even, he didn’t sound mad. “Why you couldn’t go through with killing him.”

“Because,” Allison started. “I know him.”

“What?”

“After that night in the woods when I lost him,” Allison took a deep breath. “I saw him a few times,” Allison wasn’t about to disclose how close she was with Derek to her father, but she was going to tell as much of the truth as she could. “We spoke.”

Chris made an unhappy noise but let Allison continue

“If he had attacked me, or someone else, if I was protecting myself then I could kill him but,” Allison watched Derek, he was breathing evenly, his face calm and untroubled, “he’s not a threat, he hasn’t killed anyone while he’s been in town, Kate was the one to choose him for this and I still don’t know why. Dad, he doesn’t deserve to die just so I can prove I can lead the family.”

“Do you think if it was another werewolf that you didn’t know, you could have gone through with it and not felt the need to free him?” Chris asked.

“Maybe?” Allison offered. “I’d do anything to protect my family and this town, but right now Derek isn’t a threat.”

“And if he does become a threat? What if he kills someone?”

“Then I’ll put an arrow between his eyes,” Allison said confidently.

Chris chuckled. “If you’re safe it might be best for you to stay where ever you are for the weekend,” he told her. “I’ll try and calm everyone down here. Do you have enough money?”

“I’m safe, and yeah I do,” Allison said. “Are you sure?”

“Stay where you are,” Chris repeated. “Coming home now might just cause even more problems...”

Allison’s stomach sank. Her father was right, she had caused so many problems already.

“Allison?” Chris said a bit louder when she didn’t respond to what he was saying.

“Hmm? Sorry?” Allison shook her head and focused on her dads’ voice.

“I said you followed your gut, you’ve made a decision based on feeling and if it was the wrong decision you need to be prepared to fix your mistake.”

“I will dad,” Allison told him. “But this wasn’t the wrong decision.”

“I don’t think your aunt and grandfather will see it that way,” Chris sighed again.

“Gerard wanted me to start making decisions and I am. No one ever said I had to make decisions that he agrees with.”

“And Kate?” Chris knew how much Allison loved Kate, how much she admired her aunt.

Allison _did_ still love Kate, adored her even. Kate had always been more like a sister or best friend than her aunt, and she was torn between keeping Derek safe and making Kate happy. However sitting in the dark, looking down at Derek, whose face was still pale with dark circles under his eyes, the determination to stand by her decision burnt like a wildfire in her chest. 

“If Kate wanted Derek dead she should have made sure he was killed in the fire like the rest of his family,” Allison’s words came out more bitter than she’d intended. “She’s had enough chances to kill him.”

Allison wasn’t sure if the noise her father made was one of anger or amusement.

“You should get some sleep,” Chris told her. “It’s been a long day.”

“I don’t know if I can sleep,” Allison admitted. “My brain is going 100 miles per hour after everything that’s happened today.”

“Try to sleep anyway. I don’t think the next few days will be any less stressful unfortunately.”

“Okay dad,” she agreed. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Stay safe.”

Allison stared at her phone for a while after her father had hung up. Chris had been right, she had made a decision based on a gut feeling, it wasn’t tactical or even well planned, she had relied on her emotions. Derek had never given her a real reason to trust him, just because he fucked her and didn’t kill her afterwards didn’t mean that he actually cared about her or wouldn’t hurt her.

Allison sighed and stood up to get changed. She dug a pair of pyjama shorts and a t-shirt out of the bag and stripped out of the clothes she was wearing.

Derek was lying on his back, one arm slung across his stomach and the other by his side. Allison sat back down on the bed and tried to picture Derek as a vicious killer. She tried to imagine him with his claws ripping apart her mother, or his fangs at her father’s throat.

She _knew_ that Derek was capable of it, she knew that he could be dangerous, but a small part of her told her that he wouldn’t hurt her.

It brought tears to Allison’s eyes and made her stomach churn.

She knew he didn’t care about her but there was a tiny part of her heart that wished that he did. It was easier to justify her saving Derek if he had feelings for her, than admit she saved him because _she_ had unrequited feelings for _him._

***

Derek was the first one to wake up in the morning, he was sitting at the table eating left over pizza when Allison woke up.

“We can go get some real food,” Allison offered through a yawn. “We probably should if we’re going to be holed up here for a few days.”

Derek shrugged. “Sure.”

He still wasn’t completely convinced that and army of Argent’s weren’t going to bust through the door at any moment. He trusted Allison, mostly because he had to and because he didn’t sense any deception when she told him she was sorry. However if her father knew where they were or they had somehow otherwise been able to track them down, then he didn’t like his chances on getting out alive.

Derek stretched to feel his body move. All his superficial wounds had healed, however his muscles were still sore from the abuse he had endured. Even though he had only been held for three weeks the lack of food and water had taken a serious toll on his body, he was healing but not fast enough for his liking.

Derek could feel Allison’s gaze on him so he looked back to the teenager. Allison was sitting in the middle of the bed with her knees drawn up to her chest, she had her arms wrapped around them and her chin resting on her knee. Derek raised his eyebrows at her.

“You said you’d tell me about Kate,” Allison said softly, never looking away from Derek.

“Are you sure you want to know?” Derek asked. “It’s not a nice story.”

Allison nodded. “I want to know the truth.”

Derek scrubbed his hand across his face and nodded as well. “Okay then.” Derek fiddled with the edge of the pizza box, he had spent most of his adult life trying his best not to think about Kate or what had happened between them.

“When did you meet?” Allison prompted.

“When I was sixteen, she showed up at one of my basketball games. She started flirting with me and after P-” Derek closed his eyes. He wasn’t going to talk about Paige, not to Allison, not right now. “After the way my last relationship ended,” he amended. “I liked the attention she gave me. She was older and confident but I never thought she could be dangerous. I thought _I_ was the monster, and she was the fragile human.”

Derek looked up to Allison but she didn’t say anything, just nodded for him to continue, so he did.

“We slept together a few times,” Derek didn’t want to go into detail, it was something that had happened and he didn’t want to dwell on it. “She made me trust her, she tricked me into thinking that she loved me, she made me think that I loved her too. She used me to find out everything she could about my family, our house, and our routines. I was used to being tight lipped about my family but Kate has a knack of getting information out of people. I told her about the tunnels under our house.”

Derek stopped. He gripped the edge of the table and took a deep, shuddering, breath.

It was all his fault. He was the one who told Kate about the tunnels. He was the one who told her all about his family. He was the one who put everyone he loved in danger. Kate had struck the match but he was the flint she had used.

“Derek,” Allison’s voice brought Derek back to the present. “Derek what happened that night?”

“I was supposed to home,” Derek’s voice was shaky but he kept going. “But I got a last minute invite to stay at a friends’ place. My older sister, Laura, wasn’t home either, she was at a friends’ birthday party. I didn’t know anything was wrong until Laura called me. Laura became an alpha after mom…” Derek trailed off and shook his head, unable to finish the sentence. “Laura knew something was wrong and called me in tears, told me we had to get home right away. By the time we got there someone had already noticed the smoke and called the fire department. The whole place had been laced with wolfsbane and mountain ash, there was nothing we could do. We couldn’t get in and no one could get out. Laura and I watched the house burn, we watched the firemen search for survivors even though we knew no one was alive. We were shocked then they pulled Peter from the wreckage, heartbeat faint but still there. We lost everyone else. Our parents, our siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins. Everyone.”

Derek looked down at the table, he didn’t want to look at Allison. He could still smell the ash and burning flesh, he could hear Peter’s screams as he came too while they were loading him into the ambulance echoing in his ears.

After a few long, tense minutes Allison realised Derek wasn’t going to talk again. She stood up and walked over to stand by her side. Allison hesitantly laid a hand on Derek’s shoulder.

“So now you know the truth,” Derek jerked himself away from Allison’s touch.

“You know I’m not doing what Kate did, right? I’m not trying to trick you into trusting me just so I can hurt you,” After hearing the truth Allison needed to make sure that he didn’t think she was going to betray his trust. “I freed you because I wanted to, not to play mind games. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Aren’t you going to leave now?” Derek still wasn’t looking at her.  

“Leave?” Allison shook her head. “Why would I leave?”

“That’s what you said would happen,” Derek said. “You’d free me, I’d tell you the truth about Kate and then we’d never see each other again.”

“I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry,” Allison tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’m not going to leave, not unless you want me to.”

Derek was silent. Allison put her hand on Derek’s shoulder again, this time he didn’t pull away from her.

“Do you want me to leave?” She asked.

Derek shook his head. “No.”

***

“When do you turn eighteen anyway?” Derek asked late on Sunday night.

The past day and a half had been so normal. He and Allison had ate, slept, watched TV, even gone on runs together. Neither of them mentioned the Argents nor had they spoken about what would happen when the weekend was up. It was the first time Derek had thought to ask.

“Tomorrow,” Allison told him. “I’ll be eighteen tomorrow.”

“Are you going to go back to Beacon Hills?”

Allison shrugged. “I’ll have to go back eventually, I suppose I shouldn’t put it off any longer,” she looked over at Derek who was sitting at the small table, reading a book Allison had brought with her. “Will you come back with me?”

The question threw Derek and he took a few moments to reply.

“As long as your family aren’t going to be greeting us.”

“I’m not going to tell them that I’m coming back,” Allison decided. “I’ll just show up and deal with the fallout from freeing you.”

“What do you think they’ll do when you show up?”  

“They’ll be mad, and disappointed. I’ll get lectures about responsibility and family. Our code will be repeated over and over,” Allison admitted. “But it’s not like they’ll make me take your place in the basement.”

She tried to smile but the visual her words created made both of them uneasy.

“What will you do back in Beacon Hills?” Allison asked.

Derek shrugged. “I haven’t thought too much about it. My main priority is staying out of your family’s crosshairs.”

Allison nodded but didn’t say anything. They were toeing a fine line as it was and she didn’t want to keep talking about her family and push the conversation into seriously dangerous waters. They’d had several near arguments which had ended with them both steadfastly ignoring the other until they had both calmed down.

They lapsed back into silence and Derek picked the book back up. He read the words on the page but didn’t really take of what he was reading in.

After a while Allison started to yawn.

“You can sleep,” Derek told her. “You don’t have to wait for me to go sleep.”

“Aren’t you tired?” Allison asked.

She didn’t want to admit that for the past two nights she had enjoyed falling asleep with Derek next to her.

“I guess so,” he said, closing the book and placing it on the table in front of him.

“Maybe we should both sleep then,” Allison suggested.

Derek got up and switched the lights off without another word. He slipped into bed beside Allison, she settled back against him and he wrapped his arms around her as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

“I don’t want to go back tomorrow,” Allison admitted quietly.

Derek pressed his face into her hair and held her tighter.

He didn’t particularly want to go back either.


	4. Chapter 4

Of course though, both of them did make the trip back to Beacon Hills.

The drive back seemed too fast and too long all at once.

Neither Allison nor Derek said very much on the way home. Both of them were too wrapped up in their own thoughts of what would happen once they were back in Beacon Hills.

When they were inside the city limits both of them were on edge in case something went wrong.

However no strange cars started following them or forced them off the road. No men with guns came running when they pulled up at Derek’s building. Both of them expected to hear Kate when Derek kissed Allison goodbye, but her voice never came.

“We shouldn’t see each other for a while,” Derek said. “Your family will probably be keeping a close eye on you.”

“Okay,” Allison agreed, but she didn’t let go of Derek’s hand. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure they don’t come after you again. They have no reason to, you haven’t hurt anyone but…” 

“Yeah,” Derek nodded. “I get it.”

They both knew Kate and probably Gerard would still want to come after him, regardless of whether or not he had done anything.

Allison finally let go of Derek’s hand and let him get out of the car. She watched him walk up to the building and pull open the door. He looked back over his shoulder one last time before the door swung shut behind him.

***

The reception Allison received on her return home was about as warm as she had expected. Although the silent anger she was faced with unnerved her more than screaming would have.

Allison’s parents hugged her then ushered her into her father’s office.

Gerard sat behind Chris’ desk, Mason and Luke were flanking him. Kate was standing off to the left and Victoria and Chris moved over to stand to the right of the desk, leaving Allison to stand in front of it by herself.

“Happy birthday, Allison,” Gerard greeted.

Allison’s stomach sank.

“Do you want to explain what happened?” Her grandfather asked.

The man sounded calm and composed but Allison had been around Gerard long enough to recognise the anger that was just below the surface of his cool demeanour, anger that was ready to break through. Allison could see Gerard’s favourite broadsword leaning against the edge of the desk. She knew he would never use it on her, of course he wouldn’t, he wouldn’t hurt a member of the family. However there was no doubt in her mind that he would love to use it on Derek, and he would love to make Allison watch.

Allison squared her shoulders and looked at each of her family members in turn before turning back to Gerard.

“I made a decision,” Allison told them. “And knowing that none of you would agree with my decision I took things into my own hands,” the teenage girl exhaled through her nose. “I decided to free Derek Hale.”

No one said anything, although Kate put the book she had been playing with down on the bookshelf with more force than necessary.

“Why?” Gerard asked.

Allison opened her mouth to answer but then shut it again. Where did she begin?

“How did you come to the decision to free the werewolf?” Gerard clarified.

“He hasn’t hurt anyone,” Allison started. “Our code is _‘we hunt those who hunt us’_ but Derek has not posed any threat to us or Beacon Hills, he only came back here to find out what happened to his sister,” Gerard started to say something but in a bold move Allison held up her hand to show that she wasn’t finished speaking yet. “He’s a werewolf but that doesn’t mean he’s a threat.”

“His eyes are blue!” Mason interrupted, he was obviously having a hard time just standing around listening to Allison talk and justify a decision he didn’t agree with.

Allison levelled a cold glare at her cousin. “I don’t know why his eyes are blue, however I spent the weekend with him,” the admission drew a disgruntled noise from her mother and a disapproving look from Gerard. “And if he wanted to harm me or our family he had ample opportunity to do so. If he wanted me dead I would be dead. He has every reason to want revenge against our family,” Allison looked at Kate whose lips were pressed hard together. “However he didn’t seek revenge or retribution.”

“Why not share your thoughts with us?” Gerard asked. “Why sneak around behind our backs?”

“You wouldn’t even let me give him more food and water!” Allison’s voice rose and she didn’t bother trying to quieten herself. “I had to fight tooth and nail just to get you to stop torturing him while he was under our roof! Are you seriously asking me why I didn’t ask for permission to free him?!”

“Allison,” Victoria warned.

Allison took a deep breath and composed herself. Acting like a hysterical little girl wasn’t going to earn her families respect. Right now she needed them to view her as a mature adult who could make rational decisions.

“None of you would have supported my decision,” Allison continued in a calmer voice. “I knew that it would be easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.”

“Are you asking for forgiveness?” Gerard leaned forward.

“No,” Allison said simply. “I stand by my decision and I have nothing to be sorry for.”

That was the tipping point for Kate. The older woman slammed her fist against the bookshelf and surged forward, only just stopping short of actually grabbing Allison by the collar of her jacket.

“You let a monster loose!” Kate screamed.

Allison shrank back, she had never been on the receiving end of Kate’s wrath and this was possibly the angriest she had ever seen Kate.

“Kate!” Gerard’s voice was loud and firm.

However unlike when Victoria had scolded Allison, Kate ignored her father completely.

“All this because you were too weak to kill him!”

“Kate, I,” Allison shook her head, she didn’t know what to say.

Allison’s heart and brain her pulling her in a number of different directions all at once. She was angry at Kate for what she had done to Derek and his family, she was angry that Kate was calling her weak. However she still loved Kate, they were closer than aunt and niece, they always had been, and even everything that had happened hadn’t been enough to destroy Allison’s love for her. Her upbringing and the knowledge of how dangerous of werewolves could be was clashing with everything she had learned about Derek during their short time together. She believed that Derek would never hurt her, but she knew how dangerous he was. Her aunt was staring her down telling her what a monster Derek was and how he needed to be put down but all Allison could think about was the way he had kissed her goodbye, how carefully he had held her while they slept.

Both her parents as well as Gerard and Kate were all speaking; at Allison, to each other, over each other. Their voices blurred together and Allison couldn’t think straight, couldn’t form the words she wanted to say.

She endured the verbal abuse hurled her way until finally, one by one, they all fell silent again.

“I stand by my decision,” Allison told them. “Dealing with Derek Hale was my responsibility and I did what I felt was right. If any of you go after him without cause it’s me you’ll have to answer to.”

Allison turned on heel and left them all in stunned silence.

***

Her family left her alone for the rest of the afternoon. Several times her parents appeared at her bedroom door but neither of them said anything about what had happened.

Late in the evening Allison decided she needed to get out of the house.

Allison drove out to the preserve, she wanted to get as far away from her family as she could, she needed some more time to think alone, and the preserve really was beautiful when she wasn’t chasing werewolves in the dead of night.

Unfortunately though Allison didn’t get the amount of alone time that she wanted. It was just verging on dusk when she heard car engines approaching.

Allison sighed and readied herself for another confrontation.

“How did you find me?” Allison asked when they were all out of the cars. Even Mason and Luke had come along, which surprised her.

“We put a GPS tracking device on your car when you got home,” Chris explained. “We had one ready. We didn’t want you disappearing for days on end again.”

Allison crossed her arms and resisted the urge to swear at her father and disclose the role he had played in her and Derek’s escape. However she knew her dad was the only semblance of an ally she had in the family and she couldn’t risk burning that bridge.

“We also had plans to be out in the preserve tonight anyway,” Chris continued. “You left before we could tell you though, we were going to wait until after dark to head out.”

“Why were you planning to be out here?” Allison narrowed her eyes, if they were planning on hunting Derek again she had a few choice words for them.

Chris looked at his father who nodded and took over the conversation.

“While you were gone there were some new developments with the alpha,” Gerard told her. “It’s Peter Hale.”

“Peter?” Allison raised her eyebrows. “But isn’t he comatose? How do you know for sure?”

“He attacked someone,” Gerard told her.

“Who?”

No one answered her.

“Who did he attack?” Allison demanded to know.

“Allison,” Victoria stepped forward and placed her hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “Allison he attacked Lydia. He bit her but the bite hasn’t taken, she’s in the hospital.”

Allison went stiff and pulled away from her mothers’ touch.

“And none of you thought to tell me this?!” Allison’s breathing quickened, she was in shock. Her best friend had been attacked and she hadn’t been there to save her.

“We were trying to protect you, we were going to tell you this afternoon but then you took off, that’s why we followed you,” Victoria’s voice was softer than normal. “After what happened with Derek we weren’t sure if you could handle knowing the truth.”

“This is what they do, Ally,” Kate said, stepping forward and wrapping her arm around her niece. Allison tried to pull away but Kate held her firmly. “They’re monster’s Allison, and it’s our job to put them down. They go around attacking people because they can’t control themselves. This is why we can’t be soft, we need to hunt them or things like this happen.”

“What’s the plan?” Allison asked. She ignored the bile rising in her throat, and the way her heart tightened when she thought about her friend lying in a hospital bed possibly dying. “How do we stop him?”

_Clinically and unemotionally._

She needed to act like an Argent, like the leader she had been brought up to be.

Gerard smiled at his granddaughter. “Good, that’s what you should be focusing on.”

The praise didn’t make Allison feel good, instead she was left gritting her teeth.

“So you don’t have any objections to hunting Peter?” Gerard asked. “Derek’s uncle?”

She knew they were testing her, they wanted to see if Derek was just an anomaly or if she really had gone completely soft and weak. 

Allison shook her head. “No.”

If Peter was the one who had bitten Scott and had attacked Lydia, he was obviously dangerous and needed to be dealt with. In the back of her mind Allison hoped that Derek wouldn’t be out in the preserve.

Allison popped the trunk of her car and pulled out her bow and arrows.

The adults around her nodded in approval.

The hunters set to work readying their weapons. It wasn’t the place they had initially chosen to start in, but Allison had inadvertently chosen a spot in the preserve that worked just as well for their plan.

Allison kept herself focused on her weapons because if she let her mind wander she would start to think about Lydia and she would get angry; angry at Peter for attacking an innocent teenage girl, angry at herself for not being around to help, and angry at her family for not telling her right away.

It was dark by the time the group headed out into the depths of the forest, Allison leading the way. They were all on foot, they didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to themselves by using ATV’s.

They were heading in the direction of the burnt out Hale house. Scott’s attack had happened not far from there, and Laura Hale’s body had been found not too far away either, the hunters were working on the assumption that Peter wasn’t straying too far from his old home.

A howl made the hunters pick up their pace, cautious to keep as quiet as possible. However when an answering howl sounded the hunters started to run, uncaring of how loud their footsteps on the undergrowth was.

They had been prepared for Peter to be alone. With Derek still recovering from the torture they had put him through they had expected him to stay away from the preserve for a while, and Scott had shown no indication that he wanted anything to do with the mysterious alpha that had bitten him.

However when they reached the clearing in the woods, the shell of the Hale house looming above them, they were faced with several figures illuminated by the bright moonlight.

The two bigger figures were circling each other while the other two smaller ones stood off to the side, watching and waiting.

As the hunters got closer they could see the two bigger figures were Derek and who Allison assumed was Peter, and the two smaller and younger people were Scott and his friend Stiles.

All of the werewolves had heard the hunters approaching but Derek and Peter didn’t want to take their eyes off the other and allow someone to gain the upper hand because of a momentary lapse in attention. Scott was the only one to turn as the hunters made their way forward.

“Allison?” Scott asked, confusion contorting his features as he saw his girlfriend at the front of the group, holding her bow high.

“You should get out of here, Scott,” Allison warned. “You too, Stiles.” She didn’t even know _why_ Stiles was there, although she wasn’t entirely surprised.

Scott shook his head and started to say something else but then everyone’s attention was torn back to the older werewolves when Peter snarled and lunged for Derek.

Derek dodged his uncle and lashed out with his claws, managing to catch Peter’s side.

A shot rang out and the bullet hit Derek in the shoulder.

Allison didn’t turn around to see who had fired, she didn’t want to.

“We’re here for Peter!” Allison yelled. “Scott and Derek aren’t our priority here!”

“What if they attack us?” Luke demanded.

It wasn’t really a question but Allison answered anyway. “Defend yourself if you have to, but focus on Peter, he’s the alpha!”

Allison sent a silent prayer to a god she didn’t believe in that Scott and Derek didn’t get in the way.

The hunters moved forward again, fanning out to surround the two werewolves who were still fighting. Scott and Stiles watched on in complete confusion, both shaken by the appearance of Allison and her family toting weapons and somehow knowing exactly what was going on.

Peter was faster than any of the hunters had anticipated, for a man who had spent the last six years in a comatose state he was agile and strong. He spotted Kate and went after her first.

Kate emptied her clip into Peter however not all the bullets hit him and the ones that did were normal bullets and did very little to slow him down.

The other hunters turned their guns towards Peter but none of them fired, he was behind Kate with his hand around her throat, his claws digging into her soft flesh.

Allison wanted to scream out but her throat tightened, she couldn’t make a noise.

“You should have done a better job killing us, Katie,” Peter teased, a feral grin on his face. Kate looked terrified, it was the first time Allison could remember seeing her aunt look scared. “This is for what you did to my family. This is for what you did to me.”

“No!” Allison managed to yell but it was already too late.

Blood sprayed out and Kate’s body fell to the ground.

Allison let arrows fly, the metal tips of the first two buried themselves in Peter’s shoulder and Allison quickly reached into her quiver for another arrow and set it in place against her bow, pulling the string taught.

Peter jerked back as Allison’s third arrow went through his neck. Unfortunately though it seemed to miss the vital arteries.

Several more bullets flew through the air and hit Peter. Allison wasn’t sure who had fired and who hadn’t.

The fourth arrow Allison sent flying hit Derek in the back as the werewolf ran forward and tackled his uncle to the ground, the movement caused Allison’s arrow in Peter’s neck to snap. Derek tore the jagged remains of the arrow from his uncles’ neck, blood spurted out, coating Derek’s hands even more. 

Peter tried to roar but the noise was choked off and watery because of the blood pooling in his throat.

The hunters were all waiting to see what happened next, their weapons raised and ready. Surprisingly they were still all following Allison’s orders to not shoot Derek, they had all seemed to have come to the same conclusion; if Derek was willing to kill his uncle for them then so be it.

Allison focused on Derek so she wouldn’t look at Kate’s body that was lying on the forest floor.

Derek raised his hand, and Allison was moving before he brought his hand back down. She didn’t see Derek slash Peter’s throat but she heard it, she heard the sound of claws ripping through flesh (the second time that night), she heard the strangled noise Peter made, she heard the sharp intake of breath from Stiles behind her.

Allison had her bow aimed at Derek but he didn’t move, he didn’t try to defend himself or run.

“It’s over!” Allison announced.  

The hunters all holstered the weapons. Gerard was reluctant to do so but Allison stood between him and Derek so he didn’t have much of a choice, he couldn’t shoot Derek.

Derek still hadn’t moved at all. He was kneeling over his uncles’ now lifeless body, his eyes glued to his hands that were covered in Peter’s blood.

“Allison,” Scott suddenly said. “What is going on? What are you doing here?”

“Scott,” Allison turned to face Scott, and Stiles who was right by his best friends’ side. “I’ll explain, I’ll explain everything. Just not right now, okay?”

“No,” Scott shook his head. “What’s going on? Tell me.” his voice was firmer now, he was still confused but less scared than he had been.

Allison clenched her fist that wasn’t holding her bow, she really didn’t want to deal with this at the moment. She had just seen her aunt murdered and she didn’t want to field questions from Scott and Stiles about her involvement.

“I’m a hunter,” Allison said bluntly. “And you both need to get out of here, right now.”

“Are you going to kill us?” Scott asked.

“No,” Allison looked Scott in the eyes. “Not unless you give me a reason to.” She looked at Stiles. “And we never kill humans.” 

Scott looked at Derek and hesitated.

“We’re not going to kill Derek either,” she looked over her shoulder to give a pointed look at her family members. “Now leave.”

Scott and Stiles exchanged a look, both of them looked like they wanted to argue but they ultimately decided to leave.

“Derek,” Allison said quietly, walking up to the werewolf who still hadn’t moved. “Derek, you should leave too.”

Derek shook his head. “I-I have to…” Derek trailed off, he was in shock over what had happened, it had all gone down so fast.

“We’ll clean up the body,” Allison told him. “Go home.”

Derek blinked a few times before finally rising to his feet, he looked at Allison like he wanted to say something.

“ _Go_ ,” Allison said. “Before they change their minds.”

Allison watched Derek disappear into the dark woods and turned back to her family, she caught sight of Kate’s body and finally the tears came.


	5. Chapter 5

As he sat alone in the loft Derek didn’t know how he felt.

He couldn’t eat, he couldn’t sleep, and he’d spent half an hour standing in front of the mirror watching his eyes change from his human eyes to bright red.

He was an alpha now.

Part of him was thrilled, he could feel the new power flowing through his body; he was stronger than ever.

However the joy was quashed by knowledge of how he had gotten the power.

Derek had _murdered_ his uncle.

He had murdered _family._

He had murdered _pack_.

Although Derek’s remorse wasn’t as strong as it could have been since Peter had tricked and killed Laura, his own niece, in cold blood for the power in the first place, and he would have killed Derek in the fight the night before if the hunters hadn’t interrupted.

The hunters.

That was another thing that was bothering him.

He felt like he should be feeling happy about it. He had spent years wishing Kate dead, he had spent countless hours thinking about what it would be like if it were him taking her life. He was glad she was dead, but seeing Kate die didn’t bring him the satisfaction or happiness he had hoped it would. It didn’t change anything about what she had done, it just added another tally to the body count.

Then there was Allison.

Derek couldn’t stop thinking about how she’d had to see her aunt get her throat ripped out. He knew that being a hunter meant she was more desensitized to death than most kids her age, but seeing someone you love die is never easy. No matter how awful Kate was he didn’t think that Allison deserved to see her aunt murdered right in front of her.

Derek also had a hard time believing that Allison had actually managed to talk her family into not killing him. Obviously she had succeeded somehow because he was still alive, but it was still hard to believe.

The sun was rising and Derek looked out the large windows of the loft. He knew he had a lot to deal with and he couldn’t ignore it. He had to look out for Scott, somehow talk the teenager into joining his pack so he could protect him, there was no doubt they would be stronger together. He had to talk to Allison, to make sure the hunters weren’t going to be a problem for him, and to make sure she was okay.

However all of it could wait for a few hours at least, for the time being Derek felt like being alone.

***

Allison’s first stop was to the hospital to see Lydia.

Lydia was still unconscious, they had her sedated, but the doctors said she was stable and recovering.

Allison knew that an alpha’s bite would either turn or kill a person, but somehow, miraculously, Lydia wasn’t turning into a werewolf or dying either. Allison couldn’t put the relief she felt into words.

The next place Allison went was to talk to Scott, it wasn’t a conversation she was looking forward to.

“So you’re a hunter?” Stiles asked, because _of course_ Stiles was right there with Scott during the whole thing.

Allison nodded. “Yeah. Both my parents are hunters, so were my grandparents. I was raised in this life.”

“Did you know what I was when we..?” Scott wasn’t able to finish the question.

Allison didn’t blame him, the betrayal he must be feeling had to be overwhelming.

“My parents wanted me to be friends with you so we could keep an eye on you,” Allison admitted. “But I never thought that I’d actually start to like you as a person.”

“Did you ever love me?” Scott couldn’t make eye contact with her.

“No,” Allison said softly. “Not the way you loved me.”

“Why didn’t you kill Scott?” Stiles asked, steering the conversation away from love and feelings. “Or Derek?”

“Scott’s never hurt anyone,” Allison looked at the werewolf. “You’re not a threat, I made the decision not to kill you unless you attacked one of us. As for Derek, that’s a long story.”

“We have time,” Stiles prompted and Scott nodded. They wanted to know what was going on and what kind of danger they were in because of Allison’s family.

Allison sighed but she told them.

She started her story from the time they had captured Derek in the woods. She didn’t think Scott needed to hear about how Allison and Derek had been sleeping together.

Allison told them about how they had held him and why. She told them about her plan to get Derek out of the house and why she had felt the need to save him (she didn’t tell them about her dad’s involvement, she figured that it was best to keep that between herself, Derek, and Chris). She told them about their weekend in the crappy motel room, she glossed over Derek’s story about his history with Kate, she just told them that Kate was the one who had killed his family and left Peter in a coma which is why Peter had wanted to kill her. She told them about coming home and the confrontation with her family. Then she finally finished by telling them how she and her family had ended up in the woods the night that Peter and Kate had died.

“Are you okay?” Scott asked once Allison was finished telling her story. “After seeing Kate die like that, and after everything else you’ve been through?”

Allison had to laugh at that. Scott was the one who had been bitten and turned into a monster and had just found out his girlfriend, who didn’t actually love him, had been raised to hunt his kind, and _he_ was askingif _she_ was okay.

Scott and Stiles looked at each other when Allison laughed, that was not the reaction either of them were expecting.

When her laughter subsided Allison nodded. “I’ll be okay,” she said, although her tone wasn’t entirely convincing.

“What happens now?” Scott asked. “I mean, do I have to worry about your dad coming after me with a gun?”

“I’d worry more about my grandfather,” Allison muttered under her breath before she realised Scott would hear her perfectly fine anyway. “No one’s going to come after you with guns, I promise.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I’m in charge,” Allison shrugged and the two teenage boys looked at her dubiously. “In our family the men are trained to be soldiers and the women are trained to be leaders.” Allison explained. “Right now I’m being trained to make the decisions on behalf of the family. They may not like my choices but for the most part they should follow my decisions.”

“And if they don’t?” Stiles asked. “What if they start ignoring you and decide Scott _is_ a threat?”

“I don’t know,” Allison admitted. “I’m still trying to figure it all out.”

Scott leaned forward and put his hand on Allison’s shoulder. “It’s okay,” he told her. “We’ll figure it out.”

Allison gave him a grateful smile. She may not be in love with Scott, but she did appreciate him and knew he had a good heart.

“Seriously,” she said. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure they don’t hurt you or anyone else who’s innocent.”

“I know you will,” Scott nodded.

Even after everything he had just learned about her he had faith in her and believed that it would all work out, he still trusted her even though she had given him little reason to do so.

She had never felt more confident in her belief that Scott McCall wasn’t a threat to the Beacon Hills community.

***

Kate’s funeral was hard.

Allison wasn’t sure how, but new evidence had come to light that exposed that Kate had been responsible for the Hale fire.

Photographers and reporters showed up at the cemetery and the police did a good job of keeping them back, but it still made a difficult time even worse.

None of the hunters shed any tears during the service. Allison felt like she should, she was devastated by Kate’s death, but surrounded by her family and with photographers taking photos of them all she couldn’t bring herself to cry. The years of training to handle things clinically and unemotionally took over. Allison shed her tears in private where no one could see or hear her.

***

It was like déjà vu when Allison saw Derek walking down the aisle of the grocery store. He was alone and she was with Lydia, just like that time all those months ago, before everything got so crazy. It was bizarre seeing Derek in such a mundane setting, shopping for groceries, after everything they had been through. It had been a few weeks since Kate and Peter had died and the only reason Allison knew Derek had still been in town was because Scott told her.  

Allison actually stopped in her tracks when she saw Derek which caused Lydia to stop.

“What’s wrong?” Lydia asked.

Allison shook her head and kept walking but Lydia had already spotted Derek.

“Oh that’s the hot guy who knows your dad!” Lydia exclaimed in an excited whisper. “Now that you’re not with Scott anymore are you finally going to go for him?”

Allison huffed out a laugh. She had been wanting to see Derek since that horrific night in the preserve, but she hadn’t had the guts to go and see him.

Derek had seen the two girls and smiled almost hesitantly at them. He walked down the aisle to where they were.

“Allison,” he greeted then turned to Lydia. “Lydia, I’m glad to see you’re out of the hospital and doing okay,” Lydia furrowed her brow in confusion. “Scott told me about how you were attacked.” Derek explained.

“You know Scott?” Lydia asked.

Derek nodded.

“Derek knows a lot of people,” Allison added.

Lydia still seemed unsure but she let it go.

“Come on, Allison,” Lydia said. “Mom doesn’t want me to be out for too long. It was nice to see you Derek.”

Allison and Lydia started to move away but Derek put his hand on Allison’s arm to halt her.

“You should come by,” Derek said quietly. “If you want to.”

Allison looked at Lydia who had continued down the aisle by herself.

“I’m staying at Lydia’s tonight,” Allison told him. “Is tomorrow night okay?”

Derek let go of Allison’s arm and nodded. “Tomorrow night is fine.”

Allison gave Derek a smile, she felt better knowing that he did actually want to see her.

Lydia noticed the change in her friends’ demeanour after they had run into Derek at the store. Naturally once the two girls were home and alone in Lydia’s room Lydia demanded answers.

“Is Derek the one you were with when you asked me to cover for you?”

Allison nodded. She decided that Lydia didn’t need to know the whole story, Lydia hadn’t been turned so there was no need to tell her about werewolves, not yet anyway, but telling Lydia about her…relationship with Derek lifted a weight off Allison’s shoulders. Talking about a boy and a relationship her parents wouldn’t ever approve of made her feel like a normal teenager for once.

“We’ve been seeing each other almost the entire time I’ve been in town, and my family would have gone crazy if they found out,” Allison explained.

“Yeah, I guess your dad wouldn’t be too happy about a man he knows sleeping with his underage daughter,” Lydia mused.

“That’s putting it mildly,” Allison laughed. “And just because dad knows Derek it doesn’t mean he likes him.”

“So why start dating Scott?” Lydia asked. “Was it just to throw your parents off?”

“Something like that,” Allison agreed.

“Is that why you and Scott broke up?” Allison appreciated how Lydia could just put all the pieces into place herself.

Allison nodded again. “He doesn’t know about me and Derek, but I couldn’t keep stringing him along.” Allison looked at her hands. “I feel bad he’s so nice but…”

“But what?” Lydia prompted.

“I don’t love him not the way-”

“Not the way you love Derek?” Lydia interrupted.

“I was going to say not the way he loves me,” Allison corrected. “I do _not_ love Derek.”

“Okay,” Lydia assured her friend with a pat on the arm. “Whatever you say.”

“ _I don’t_ ,” Allison stressed.

Lydia ignored her friend. “Let’s watch a movie,” she suggested.

Allison welcomed the change of subject. However all throughout the movie all Allison could focus on was convincing herself that wasn’t actually in love with Derek.

At most, she reasoned, she had a crush that had developed because of all the heightened emotions that had been surrounding them lately. Allison tried to convince herself that once things went back to normal (or as normal as they could ever be) the crush would pass and she would see Derek as nothing more than a good fuck again.

Even as Allison thought about all the rational reasons why she shouldn’t be in love with Derek, she couldn’t stop the way her stomach flipped at the thought of finally being able to be alone with him for the first time since their last night in the motel room.

***

When Derek let Allison into the loft he didn’t know what to say, Allison didn’t know what to say to Derek either.

So they didn’t talk.

The kiss they shared started off gentle but quickly devolved.

They took out all the anger and confusion they had been feeling on each other’s bodies.

Derek bruised and marked Allison’s skin and, for the first time, he made her bleed. He used a claw to slice a thin, shallow cut across the top of Allison’s breast; a mirror image of the cut Allison had made on him with Kate’s knife. Instead of pulling away Allison pulled Derek’s hair harshly and bit down on his shoulder as hard as she could.

Allison didn’t have her switch blade so she used her teeth and nails to mark Derek instead. The scratches and cuts she made healed in mere seconds, prompting her to be even more vicious. Derek never thought that he’d be wishing an Argent had a weapon on them again.

“You asshole,” Allison hissed when Derek brought her to the edge of orgasm but stopped before she could come.

Derek just chuckled against her thigh, and kept his mouth and fingers agonisingly far from where Allison wanted them.

Allison twisted her fingers through Derek’s hair and wrenched his head up so she could look him in the eyes.

“Fuck me,” she told him. “Fuck me now.”

Derek did what he was told.

It was the roughest he had ever been with Allison. All the anger and pain he had felt poured out of him as he pounded into Allison. All the words he wanted so say were stuck in his throat so he fucked her relentlessly instead.

Allison wrapped her legs around Derek and took everything that he gave her. It was easy for her to believe it was about nothing but sex when he fucked her like that.

Despite the pain that came along with the rough sex, or maybe because of the pain, Allison came twice, digging her nails in Derek as hard as she could. Derek came inside of Allison, in the moment uncaring of the risk.

They lay side by side in the dark for a long while. Sex hadn’t made it easier for them to say what they wanted to.

Finally Derek was the one to break the silence.

“This is really messed up,” he said. “Us I mean, we’re really messed up, this whole…thing we have is really messed up.”

Allison rolled over and rested her head on Derek’s shoulder. “Yeah,” she agreed. “It is.”

“Do you want to stop this?” Derek asked.

“No,” Allison told him truthfully.

Derek wrapped his arm around her. “Neither do I.”

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on [tumblr](http://heavenlyhale.tumblr.com/)
> 
> EDIT: a third instalment of the series is planned, there will be more Derek and Allison.


End file.
